Hatchet Men

Okay. So, as Joe Conason points out, James Dale Guckert has long been a loyal GOP operative and helped current-South Dakota Senator Thune defeat Tom Daschle through an unrelenting on-line smear campaign. Bought and paid for, of course, by Thune and the GOP.

And as Ari Fleischer reveals, Guckert was cleared from on-high (under his Gannon alias), despite his overt ties to GOP fund-raising organizations.

All right. So, we've revealed Guckert as a scumbag, a liar, and a political hack. But he was working for someone. Someone planted him there in the first place. Someone cleared him. Someone granted him sweeping access to the White House, as well as classified CIA information. Someone fed him GOP talking points and set his agenda.

And now it's time for the investigation to uncover who THAT person was.

I know who's on the short list.

Karl Rove, the master of evil himself.

And this is why it's important: we all know how close Rove is to the President. And we all know that these types of dirty tricks are just par for the course for Rove. It smacks of his handiwork. And should we discover a direct link from Guckert to Rove...well, it becomes pretty obvious, then, who leaked Valerie Plame's identity. Which is a felony.

On the surface, it seems pretty sloppy of Rove. Planting a gay gigolo and known political hack as a fake White House reporter? Not very subtle. But then again, it's the perfect cover. If Guckert starts talking...well, his credibility is already shot. If he starts naming names - like Rove - who's gonna believe him? After all, he's just a lying male escort. And a gay one, at that. His word against Rove. But I think they've gotten cocky. They are vulnerable now. Don't forget what they did with Monica...and how an investigation into a lousy land deal in Arkansas led to impeachment charges over a blowjob.

The pressure is on - and the fact that Ari Fleischer is so vocally covering his ass all of a sudden means that this story could have major implications. But only if it's followed up upon. Now's the time to find the link that leads to the holy grail - Karl Rove. And how appropriate if the ultimate Hatchet Man is brought down as a result of his own botched hatchet job.


UPDATED: It goes without saying that Daily Kos has done a fantastic job of pulling all the Gannon/Guckert threads together. Here are a few more round-ups of the story thus far:

Linking Gannuckert to the planted TANG memos.

Double G on Cooper. No, not like that.

How's the media covering Gannuckert?

And of course, the Plame connection.


Americablog has also taken the lead on this story and has been a fantastic resource.

Menawhile, Opus worries for the poor guy's safety. And probably rightly so. He's outlived his usefulness. And Guckert's death would certainly kill the story - so to speak - and fan the idea that the Left persecuted this poor sap. One more thing to watch out for...